A 700 acre community in Austin is taking part in a Chevy Volt test in an effort to consume less energy. The community, called Pecan Street, is also working with Sony, Whirlpool and Intel. 100 Chevy Volt range extended electric vehicles were offered to Pecan Street residents on a priority basis last September before the program started.  The way residents use their Chevy Volt vehicles will be used to determine smart grid usage and other things. GM says Austin has the highest concentration of electric vehicles out of any city in the U.S.

The upcoming 2014 Cadillac ELR will use the same technology as the Chevy Volt, and although Pecan Street will be part of this test for 5 years, there was no mention of whether or not they would be priority customers for the Cadillac ELR when it becomes available.